Today I was very sorry to hear that Sir Arthur C.
Clarke passed away. It was not only a great writer and scientist who
passed away, but also one of the last great visionaries.

Arthur C. Clarke has for me been the proof that
human kind despite many defects can become a more peaceful species
and maybe one day even abolish war and weapons. Many people would
probably call his beliefs naïve,
but Arthur C. Clarke to this day believed that education and
development of the human species would be the key to peace. He
postulated and in my opinion proved this through his books – if you
are in doubt please read Clarke's Time's Eye,
which was co-authored by Stephen Baxter.

In his legacy I regret to admit that there almost
no visionary presidents or country leaders on Earth who have even the
faintest idea of how to shape a prosperous and peaceful world. To
underline this fact I recommend reading Arthur C. Clarke's Rama
books.

With these lines I would
like to thank Arthur C. Clarke for proving to me that it is worth
reading novels and fiction.

13 August 2007 @ Moscow,
Russia

Maybe this will be more than a
dream one day - take a look into the future on the website Galacticsuite.com
- enjoy.

6 June 2007 @ Moscow,
Russia

Yesterday the International Olympic Committee
decided that Sochi
will be the host of the winter Olympics in 2014. Therefore I want
to congratulate the whole of Russia with this feat - it is an
extraordinary task in which Russia and nonetheless Sochi have used
a lot of effort to reach. I sincerely think that of the three
final cities Sochi indeed deserved to win, not necessarily because
Russia's bid was the best - I do not know the details to say
either for or against, but because Russia has won so many
victories in the winter Olympics that they deserved to get the
games, now they are coming with a very serious proposal. However
if Russia is sincere in making these winter Olympics the best
ever, then they really have challenged themselves. Remember they
are up against "brand" games like Lillehammer, Norway in
1994, which really took people with storm.

If we just for a second disregard all the
practical arrangements, which of course also has to be addressed,
then I have two pieces of advice I would like to give Russia in
order to archive their previously set goals:

1. Policing. I do not doubt that Russia will be
capable of preventing any violence up to, during and after the
games, however I am really afraid that Russia will overreact and
deploy too much police, special troops etc. on the streets. Since
Russia's police forces earlier have not been good at being
friendly and helping people this can cast shadows on the game if
this issue is not addressed in a serious way. It would really be
sad to see OMON troops stopping a demonstration the way they
showed to the international press recently in Moscow. This did not
live up to what the world normally thinks of a democratic state,
thus this will not be good PR on world wide broadcasts from the
games.

2. Visas. For many foreign citizens it is time
consuming, expensive and takes a lot of effort to acquire a
Russian visa. I would be a really good gesture if Russia could
simplify or even abandon this visa-regime. A the moment the
current visa-regime only creates unnecessary problems for
foreigners and increases the possibility of corruption among state
officials and employees. Russia should take the step the Ukraine
did with the election of their current president and abandon visas
for western countries and other countries. This will not only help
the games a lot, but also give tourism a boost and get rid of a
lot of pity bribes to document checking street policemen.

It is up to Russia to decide how they will
proceed, but once again I would like to congratulate Russia with
the first step towards the Olympics in 2014. Now the most
difficult task has come and this cannot be solved with good PR
only. Good luck!